It includes the iwi (tribe) of Ngāi Tahu and the historical iwi of Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha, who occupy the island except for its most northern districts.
[2] The name Te Waipounamu for the South Island originates from Ngāi Tahu, the principal Māori iwi (tribe) of the southern region of New Zealand, who utilised the very hard greenstone (jade) to make adzes and other implements, as well as ornaments.
Particularly valued was a paler nephrite which the Māori called inanga, gathered in a remote area near what is now called the Dart Valley.
Māori named the district wāhi pounamu, meaning "place of greenstone", and the South Island came to be called Te Wāhi Pounamu.
This article related to the Māori people of New Zealand is a stub.